An Almost Daily Devotional for the Pursuit of Godly Manhood

Menu

About

About the Blog

The purpose of this blog is very simple. As an outreach of my primary website, Men Standing Firm, my goal here is to provide “almost” daily devotions to help and encourage men to become godly men… men who will stand firm in their faith and advance God’s Kingdom into every sphere of life. This project is slated to begin January 1, 2015, the Lord willing.

John Wesley once wrote in a letter…

“Give me one hundred preachers who fear nothing but sin and desire nothing but God, and I care not a straw whether they be clergymen or laymen, such alone will shake the gates of hell and set up the kingdom of heaven upon earth.” From a letter by John Wesley to Alexander Mather in 1777

For Wesley, “preachers” didn’t necessarily have to be what we call professionals. Instead, the proclamation of the Gospel and witness of and for the Kingdom was to be done by every person who follows Christ. My own understanding of the biblical witness that undergirds Wesley’s quote inspires me and provokes in me a strong desire to see one hundred godly menin my community fear nothing but sin and desire nothing but God. I truly believe that if such a faithful fellowship of one hundred brothers could be cultivated and encouraged, they could and would transform our little corner of the world for Christ.

Is this too grand a vision? Thomas Chalmers once said, “No matter how large, your vision is too small.” In other words, nothing is impossible for God and therefore, we must dream big. I believe this vision for 100 godly men is well within reach for a sovereign and gracious God. Of course, my desire is not only for my community. Instead, my prayer is that bands of 100 godly men will spring up in many “little corners of the world.”

This is obviously nota call to nominal Christianity. It isn’ta call to cultural Christianity. It isa call to what Wesley described as Scriptural Christianity(and what I mean by Kingdom Discipleship). This is no call to halfhearted belief in Jesus. It’s the terrifying and exhilarating call of discipleship that our Lordwarned must first be responded to by counting the cost. This is no privatized or compartmentalized faith. It’s a faith that is passed from one person to another… from one generation to the next… a faith that is to be extended into every sphere of a person’s life… in homes, workplaces, communities, cities, and the world.

I once heard pastor and writer, Tony Evans, preach…

As the man goes, so goes the family

As the family goes, so goes the church

As the church goes, so goes the community

As the community goes, so goes the city

As the city goes, so goes the state, then nation, and finally the world.

This, I believe, is nothing less than Scriptural Christianity… than Kingdom Discipleship.

Our world is in great need of such men of God, for they are truly, in our day and age, the real counterculture and one of God’s primary provisions for a lost and hurting world.

I’m profoundly aware that online devotions can hardly transform the world on their own. However, if there’s anything that I write that might be blessed of God to become one little part in encouraging brothers in Christ to live out their faith to the fullest, then the effort will have been more than worth it.

PS – I think it’s important to point out that you won’t find bells and whistles here… simply direction and encouragement in God’s ordinary means of grace.

About Me

My name is Dale Tedder and I am the Minister of Discipleship at Southside United Methodist Church, in Jacksonville, Florida. I am an ordained Deacon in the Florida Conference of the United Methodist Church. Part of my calling includes proclaiming the faith of the church, teaching God’s Word, leading others into Christian discipleship, and helping those disciples understand their calling to serve and bear witness to the world.

My wife and I have four children. We love living in Jacksonville and we love cheering for the Georgia Bulldogs.